1st ZFA FanFic Challenge
by ZFA FanFic Challenges
Summary: A fanfic contest featuring five short stories starring minor OoT/MM characters! The Contest may be over now, but feel free to review the stories that were submitted!
1. Explanation

:::fanfare, Andi (the webmistress of ZFA and fanfic authoress on occasion) steps up to the podium:::  
  
Welcome, welcome!!! Welcome to the first-ever ZFA FanFic Challenge! I'm Andi, the admin of ZFA (a humble ickle Zelda fansite - find it at ***http://zeldafans.storiesfrom.us***), and I come bearing much fanfic goodness, as written by five of our members!  
  
For those of you who don't know what a fanfic challenge is, it is a rather… dare I say it?… zany event where people are giving various properties that a well-written fanfic must uphold…  
  
Whether it's writing a fic made up of words that begin with only the letter "S" or giving people a weird pairing to work out (think Ganondorf/Impa, only weirder), all fanfic challenges end up with really kick-butt entries… ::grins:::  
  
For our first challenge, we ( :::points to Jeff, the forum king (***http://zeldafans.proboards20.com***)... smiles::: ) decided to start the authors off with a relatively easy task, but one which would point out one of the major flaws in Zelda fanfiction - Everyone's extreme lack of minor characters. Honestly, you people! Everything in the world isn't Ze- or Ma- Link!!!  
  
:::coughs:::  
  
So, anyways, everyone who submitted a fic for our first challenge had to write a story between 1,000 and 5,000 words that starred one of the minor characters from Ocarina of Time or Majora's Mask… and for the sake of arguing, all minor characters were just those who weren't Zelda, Link, Malon or any of the Sages…  
  
And thus, with such a broad topic (when you think about it), we got an insanely diverse number of submissions!!!  
  
We got…  
  
"Of Fairies and Their Gossamer Wings" by canihavea-soda (featuring our cute little Tael from MM)  
  
"Karma" by Gunoung7 (with the House of Skulltula)  
  
"A Day of a Bomber" by Darko (who I don't believe has a fanfiction.net account… check out his stuff at ***http://zeldafans.storiesfrom.us***)… (I think you can figure out which characters are the stars of /this/ fic)  
  
"Ghost Child" by DarkBlacknoid (Starring Dampe, That Blonde Kid From The Graveyard, and the Stalchildren Brigade)  
  
and "Fade to Bones" by MysticSaiyan7 (Aeris Deathscythe to people who know of her from ff.n)… (with the Blue Guy from Kakariko Village/The Lost Woods… you know… the one with Cojiro… you know who Cojiro is, don't you?… the blue chicken…any of this ringing a bell? :::sighs:::)  
  
Anyways, this fic wasn't just created for the authors to show off their works in an anthology or to plug them and my website… :::shifts eyes:::… okay, so maybe it * was* to plug the site (http://zeldafans.storiesfrom.us), but there's another reason that this section was put up here…  
  
You see, we needed some people to judge this fanfic challenge, and I figured that the fine people of Fanfiction.net would be more than willing to do the job!  
  
It's not that hard! After you read a fic, just click "review" and give the story you just read a score between 1 and 5 stars - each person will get the points you give them plus 1 for every review submitted, and whoever has the best average score wins and gets to write the prologue for our upcoming RPG…  
  
You don't have to be signed in or anything to submit reviews - just post them up, and all shall be tabulated…  
  
:::grins:::  
  
oh, and as a last note, since ff.n has an extreme problem with "formatting", anything in bold is represented with a *, and anything italicized has /'s around it…  
  
Now, *Get to Voting!!!* 


	2. Of Fairies and their Gossamer Wings

Of Fairies and their Gossamer Wings  
  
By canihavea-soda  
  
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Tael followed the Skull-kid with a pensive look on his face. He looked around to call back to his sister, but, to his horror, the great stone door to the underground room slammed before she had a chance to get through. "Tatl!" he sped back towards the door, where he could hear her muffled cries as she tried to get through. "Skull-kid," Tael whined, trying to call his friend back. But, Skull-kid had been in such a funny mood ever since he had gotten that strange mask, and he wouldn't turn to help Tael free Tatl from the room. "Hey!" Tael buzzed in little circles by the stone door. "Skull-kid, come and help me!" The red ring around Tael darkened slightly as he became annoyed, and flew over to yell in Skull-kid's ear.  
  
Skull-kid turned around, and Tael stopped dead at the glare he received. "Come on you dumb fairy," Skull-kid growled, turning away again.  
  
"But my sister…"  
  
"She shouldn't have stayed to taunt that dumb ocarina kid," he sneered, tossing the said stolen ocarina into the air and catching it again. "Now, move it, before I make you." Tael didn't argue, and hurried to fall into speed alongside his oddly acting friend. He cast glances over his shoulder every now and then, longing to speed back to that door and try and gnaw his way through it if he had to. "Don't even think about it," Skull-kid growled, cutting through his thoughts. Tael didn't look back after that. Nobody would have noticed, unless they looked very closely, that the purple and red fairy had tiny pearlescent tears streaking down his face.  
  
Eventually, the two of them reached the steps which led upwards into the base of the clock tower. They climbed up them (well, Tael flew up, and the Skull-kid climbed). At the top, an angry looking Happy Mask salesman confronted them. "Now, hello there," he smiled greasily. "I believe that that mask just happens to be *mine*!" The tall, auburn haired man reached out to try and grab the mask away from Skull-kid, who just tilted his head to one side, and glared at him. The salesman stopped dead in his tracks, a look of fright over his face as waves of odd green light flared out from the strange mask towards him.  
  
"Aiyee! NO! Mercy, mercy!" The salesman shrieked, and Skull-kid laughed as he ran away.   
  
"That wasn't nice," Tael muttered reproachfully when the terrified screams had died away. "What's up with you? You've turned all horrible all of a sudden!"  
  
"Shadup, ya dumb fairy!" Skull-kid snapped, snatching Tael out of the air. He winced as Skull-kid squeezed him in his hands, and wondered suddenly whether he might be crushed to death. The tears that he had only so soon ago managed to get under control erupted once more, and doused Skull-kid's hands with moisture. "Yeuch! Are you crying?" Tael was dropped to the moss-covered floor with a sound of disgust, and Skull-kid bent down to peer at the quivering fairy. "You *are* crying!" he crowed triumphantly, poking Tael with a stubby finger. "I don't have the time to hang out with cry babies. I'm outta here!"  
  
And with that, Skull-kid fled through the slightly ajar doors of the clock tower and out into the daylight. Leaving Tael to lie on the damp floor, quivering and crying. He curled up in a small, glowing purple ball, and put his hands over his small head to muffle his sobs. Now he had no friends, and his sister was trapped in that room and he didn't know what he was going to do! Oh, it was just too horrible for words!  
  
He knew he would have to move eventually though, and when the tears were over, and all he had left was a little nagging feeling of emptiness, he began wondering what he was going to do now. The only thing he could really think of was to go to the fountain of the Great Fairy in Northern Clocktown, and see is she could think of any reasons why that funny mask was making his friend so mean all of a sudden. And, failing that, maybe she would at least let him stay with her for a while so that he didn't have to feel all alone in the big town. Speaking of big, there was going to be a lot of ground for him to cover before he would get to the fountain, and he supposed he would have to start soon.  
  
"Oh well," he sighed, wiping the sticky drying tears off of his face and rising into the air again. He might as well get going then. He too left through the huge doors, and was dazzled by the brightness of the sunlight outside. He fell a few inches as he blinked to try and be able to see again, and was nearly terrified out of his wits when he heard a dog yipping nearby. He hurried to pull himself up to a height that he knew dogs couldn't jump to, and squinted down at the white terrier on the ground below. With a mischievous grin, he stuck his tongue out at it, and then turned away to find a sign for North Clocktown.  
  
'Where is it?' he wondered, floating lazily on the early morning breeze, and darting out of sight when people walked past (there weren't many of them – it was early after all). He took in all the decorations in boxes all around, and marvelled at the vividly painted posters that hung on the walls. Sadly, he couldn't read them, so he just had to guess at what they were by the pictures. A few didn't have pictures though, which wasn't much help.   
  
Soon, he was getting bored of the scenery, and had realised that finding a sign wouldn't help you if you couldn't read, so he peeked up at the sky, where the sun was just appearing over the Eastern wall of the town. From that, he then knew which was North would be, and disappeared down a tunnel which lead in the right direction. When, on the other side, he came out into the part of town with the slide and the entrance to the Great Fairy fountain on one side, he knew he had come to the right place.  
  
Eagerly, as he hadn't seen her majesty in a while, and she no doubt had a lot of gossip to share with her favourite fairy, he sped towards the fountain. The guard by the gate did a double take when he thought he saw a purple ball with a fiery red aura speed past. He blinked, shook his head and looked back – of course, by this time, Tael had completely disappeared, leaving the guard to scratch his head, and wander whether he was being paid enough to work such long hours.   
  
Tael smiled as he neared the glowing fountain, and then his face fell when he saw a shadow thrown across the wall by a figure he knew all too well. "Skull-kid, what are you-?" he began, but was struck from the air by a curling wisp of the same odd green light that had scared the Happy Mask salesman earlier. His head hit the cold stone hard, and he groaned slightly as some silvery fairy blood ran down his miniscule forehead. "Ow…" he moaned, straining to open his eyes and see what Skull-kid was doing.  
  
When he did see, he wished with a sickening ache that he hadn't opened his eyes again. There, where usually a beautiful fairy maid, who was even larger than the average human, and had a merry tinkling laugh would stand, were dozens and dozens of pink fairies no larger than himself. "Skull-kid…," he gasped. "What have you *done*?!" With an effort, he managed to get up onto his tiny feet, and stagger forwards to the shimmering water in the fountain. Skull-kid didn't answer.  
  
Looking up, Tael thought he saw a stab of fear in Skull-kid's eyes, and a bit of the old Skull-kid was there again. He dropped his bark-brown hands, and stared at them in horror. With a small squeak, he fled the fountain, leaving Tael to deal with the hysterical pieces of the Great Fairy.  
  
"Oh, our little friend, what are we going to do? All the pieces that make me up have been scattered far and wide, and I don't know where they are!" she wailed, and Tael held his head as the high voice pierced through his throbbing head.   
  
"I don't know your majesty…I'll…I'll think of something," he answered vaguely, and stumbled backwards, out of the fountain and back into the glaring harshness of the morning sun. What in all Termina was going on? First, the Skull-kid steals that mask – then he turns mean. He scares lots of people, leaves Tatl behind and yells at Tael, and now this! Tael shook his head, and a feeling of dread fell upon him. What was he going to do now?  
  
Slowly, through the course of the next hour or so, he drifted his way back to the clock tower…just in the shadow if the doors, he caught a glimpse of the Skull-kid, and made as though to turn away again. But, the Skull-kid smiled reassuringly, and waggled his fingers. "Heya! I didn't mean to be so horrid earlier…I – I don't know what came over me," he said, looking down at the ground guiltily. "Can you forgive me?"  
  
"Of course!" Tael smiled. "But," his face turned stony again, "before I can, we must find the other pieces of the Great Fairy. She's really worried y'know!" Skull-kid nodded.  
  
"OK, I'm just going to take this mask off for a while – it's make my ears feel funny." Skull-kid pulled at the mask, but it wouldn't come off.   
  
"Shall I help?" Tael asked, and Skull-kid nodded. They pulled at the mask together, but it wouldn't budge. Skull-kid was taken over by a violent convulsion, and fell backwards into the murk of the clock tower. Tael followed him, and landed on the floor next to his fallen friend. "Are you all right?"  
  
"I – I don't know," Skull-kid answered bemusedly. "What's happening to me?" he asked Tael breathlessly. Tael backed away, unable to find words to answer the question. The colours of the mask on Skull-kid's face were draining down – no, not draining – they were spreading instead! The purples, reds, yellows and greens were coating his friend's clothes and skin, turning him into an extension of the mask itself. "Tael…help me!" Skull-kid begged wildly, clawing at the mask on his face.   
  
"I'm trying!" Tael yelled at him, as he landed on the part of the mask which covered the bridge of the nose, and hooked his tiny hands inside the groove of one of the eye sockets. "I can't move it by myself though, you'll have to do something too!"  
  
"I can't!" Skull-kid cried. "I can't move! What's happening?" he asked, as his eyes grew wide and desperate, and Tael continued clawing at the mask.   
  
Just as suddenly as all of it had started, it all stopped again. Skull-kid closed his eyes, and Tael lay, exhausted, on top of the nose of the mask. He closed his eyes, and breathed great gasps of air. Thus, he did not notice when Skull-kid opened his eyes again, and they had changed from the normal red, to glow brilliant white. Tael was thrown to the floor as Skull-kid sat up jerkily. "Hey, what was that for?!" he protested, as the wound which he had sustained from the last time he'd fallen to the ground opened up again. Skull-kid didn't answer, and merely directed a vague purple-ish mist towards the fairy.   
  
Tael tried to dodge out of its way, but he wasn't fast enough in his dazed state, and it caught him full in the face. There was a small burning sensation across his shoulder blades, and he fell onto his knees, gritting his teeth against a scream. It ended quite suddenly, and he let his jaw relax again, looking up at his friend in fear. Skull-kid stalked out of the clock tower for the second time, once again leaving a quivering Tael on the cold stone floor.   
  
Tael tried to get up and follow him – but something wasn't working quite right. He hopped into the air, and was pulled crashing back down again by gravity. "Maybe I shouldn't eat so much anymore," he puffed, as he climbed up the steps to the top one, and then ran off of the edge of it to try and launch himself into the air. Again, he fell like a stone. He sat up from where he had landed on the floor, and bought a hand up to rub the back of his neck. Something wet and warm was covering the skin there, and when he bought his hand back, he could see that it was bathed in silver liquid.  
  
Blood.  
  
His blood to be exact! In a panic, he rushed over to a puddle of water on the floor, and looked into it. Turning to the left and right, he wondered what it was that was missing from the picture. Then it hit him like a tonne of bricks.  
  
"My wings," he choked. They were gone, leaving only bloody gashes where the beautiful gossamer things had once been. For the third time in so many hours, he fell to the floor and wept, beating his fists against the hard stone. He never noticed the small Deku-scrub come past with his older sister, and tale to the returned Happy Mask salesman. And they didn't see him, because by that time, he had fallen asleep out of sheer exhaustion. He lay like that for a long, long time, and he didn't know how many hours, or days, or even weeks it had been, when Skull-kid came back.   
  
All he knew was, he was picked up roughly from the floor, and taken outside, where it was the dead of night. Skull-kid took him up on top of the clock tower, and there they waited for that 'ocarina kid', though Tael didn't know why Skull-kid thought he would come. It was only a dumb ocarina, after all…  
  
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	3. Karma

Karma  
  
By Gunoung7  
  
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There is a certain house that stands alone in Kakariko village. The local townsfolk avoid it, and tell others to do likewise. There is not a single person that knows of it that does not fear it. The reason? It is haunted. Not by ghosts, but by spiders.  
  
Every citizen of said town knows the stories of this horror. Some adventures, unaware of the tales, wander into The House of Skulltula in search of hospitality. Others, brave enough to pass through its port, tiptoe inside for the sake of bragging rights. Regardless, all who have ever set foot inside have spent the rest of their day inside a loony house, where they insanely scream day and night, trying to forget what they saw.  
  
When asked, their stories are always the same. "There was a pack of 6 spiders," they would mumble, shuttering with every detail. "Five were about the same size, but one was substantially larger. It fell from the ceiling. It spoke to me."  
  
None ever heard what it had to say, for they were either screaming with fear, or already running away, just beginning their life-long insanity.  
  
How this occupancy came to pass is a question of wonder for the town, and the rest of the world. It had been the mansion of the late, rich, and ill-fated Brigard family, whom had mysteriously disappeared one evening, only to be replaced by the Giant Spiders the next day.  
  
What really occurred is a story of tragedy for the head of the family, Mr. Seritolsa Brigard. After his wife, Mentoila Brigard, died, he was left alone to look after his six children.  
  
Henri, Rhec, Pete, Smoltz, and Archein, each sixteen years of age, give or take a few, were all immensely greedy. They always wanted more for themselves, and were often seen fighting each other over petty things such as who would get a single rupee found under the couch. This overlying greed mainly showed in their constant attempts to become Seritolsa's favorite, hoping they would be awarded a majority of the inheritance.  
  
The sixth child was Maxx, who was the misfit the group. He was not greedy in the least, and was actually quite mild mannered as opposed to the usual snobbyness of his brothers. For this reason, he was Seritolsa's favorite, and for that reason, his brothers all hated him.  
  
The death of his wife had taken its toll on Seritolsa. His once youthful face was now gaunt, and weary with wrinkles. Despite being a respectable 45, he was in quite bad health, and was often seen sprawling in pain. His hair had turned gray, and had begun to recede. He was a ghastly and horrible site.  
  
The story of how the Curse of the Skulltula came about this group is a long and interesting one......and here it is.  
  
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Seritolsa awoke the next morning, once again feeling his typical morning agony. 'When will these pains leave me?' he would wonder every night before finally drifting off into a dreamless sleep. 'I would hope that tomorrow I would get relief, than wake up disappointed and even more miserable then before.'  
  
Today was different, however, and he was in relatively high spirits. The lady at the potion shop had told him that his special potion would be completed today. It was a specifically brewed formula that would cure most of his aches and restore him to his youthful state. This, unfortunately, would not cure him of his longing for his beloved Mentoila.  
  
The children could be heard bickering in the next room. Seritolsa recognized the voices. 'Pete and Rhec are at it again,' he muttered automatically.  
  
After sighing his standard morning sigh, he began the painful and arduous task of getting up from his bed. He made a quick glance around the bedroom he shared with his children, before turning to the side, back on fire, and touching his feet to the ground. Before the pain or fear could sink in, he jolted his legs straight and gained adequate balance. Once standing, the pain left the man.  
  
Across the room, he saw Maxx dozing on his bed. He would always sleep in late while his brothers were arguing over who got the first pancake for breakfast. He was the youngest of the group, at 14 years, and was also the weakest. Poor Maxx would be picked upon and attacked by his aggressive siblings, who would all call him names such as "Papa's boy" or "Suck up." Seritolsa tried to stop these assaults, but could do little about them in his current state.  
  
Next to the sleeping form of Maxx was the sleeping form of Smoltz who would also tend to sleep in late. However, unbeknownst to Seritolsa, he would not actually be sleeping. He would simply wait until his father left the room, before proceeding to get up and give Maxx a rude awakening.  
  
Seritolsa hobbled into the next room, where the sounds of verbal fighting had stopped temporarily. The kitchen was as clean as ever, save for a dirty pan, laden with pancake flecks, on the stove.  
  
The four awake boys sat around a table on the adjacent side of the room, each diligently working on his own tower of pancakes.  
  
"Good morning boys," the father addressed them. The four all turned to look at him in unison.  
  
"Good morning father," they said in chorus. "How is your back?"  
  
Seritolsa groaned. "Worse than ever," he said flatly. "Fortunately, my potion is in today. I'll need someone to run and pick it up for me."  
  
The four boys all jumped at the opportunity to help.  
  
"I'll get it for you father," said Rhec, always the quickest to offer assistance.  
  
"No, I'll get it for you father," chimed Pete. "I'm faster than Rhec."  
  
The boy in question turned to Pete and began to argue this opinion. Rhec insisted that he was faster, and another argument broke out.  
  
"All they ever do is argue," said Archein pointedly. "Don't choose them, I would gladly pick up your potion for you dearest father."  
  
Henri countered with his own offer, and was soon in an argument with Archein, which quickly merged with the Pete/Rhec affair, and turned into a four way verbal battle.  
  
Seritolsa sighed, knowing that he would have to pick Maxx again. He turned to go back into the other room to awaken the sleeping child.   
  
However, Maxx was already standing in the doorway, looking anxious.  
  
He smiled before answering his father's unasked question. "Yes father, I will get your potion for you."  
  
With that, his brothers froze, and stared at the pair. "Thank you," Seritolsa replied, before giving Maxx a hug.  
  
Their resentment for Maxx had steadily grown over the years. Their opinion of popularity and friendship all came back to money and power. Because of this, they could not grasp why such an unambitious person could have such esteem in the family.  
  
They had always hated the boy, but with this final act, their loathing grew unfathomably intense. They turned their gaze upon each other, as a rash and unilateral decision was made by every member of the foursome.  
  
Rhec spoke up. "Let us put aside our squabbles, and unite against the main cause of our anguish." The others quickly nodded in absolute agreement.  
  
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Half an hour later, Maxx was out the door, belly full and spirits high. He whistled a cheery tune and he skipped along, occasionally stopping to bid good morning to the many townsfolk. He was the only of the 6 boys that the townspeople liked. They said the rest were to snobby.  
  
As Maxx turned the corner at 24th and Market, he was hit over the head with a brick. He fell to the ground, unconscious, before being dragged into a dark ally by his brothers. Smoltz accompanied them, having been told about the mornings atrocities after losing his wake-up attempt.   
  
The 5 boys sniggered, before producing a large potato bag, and stuffing their unconscious brother into it. They put the brick used to hit him inside as well, along with many others. They tied the end with a length of rope and, using the combined efforts of all five, were able to lift it.  
  
They walked towards the windmill, giving dirty looks to all who stared at them. One woman even went so far as to ask them what they had. She received nothing but an indignant, "Nothing! Now shove off," from Smoltz.  
  
As the giant blades of the windmill came into view, the brothers swerved on a slightly different path. They continued walking towards the well, prepared to do what they had wanted done for many long years.  
  
The water was full to the top which would provide adequate cover for the body. As they reached the well, they glanced around, making sure no one could see them. Then, slowly and with emphasis, tipped the bag into the water. It floated downwards, en route to the bottom.  
  
The boys rejoiced at the riddance of their competition. In their minds this was the best thing that had ever happened to them. Unfortunately for them, it was quite the opposite.  
  
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The cause of their curse was a deeper one that this. As it turned out, Maxx had friends in very high places. Or very low places, to be exact.  
  
One day, after fleeing the house to rid himself of the torment of his brothers, Maxx stumbled upon a secret grotto hidden in the graveyard. It was in a small hole, not more than 2 feet in diameter, lying on the ground. He peered down into it. The light from the noon sky was sufficient enough to be able to see the bottom. It was a rather short fall, and being as curious as he was, Maxx decided to hop in.  
  
Upon landing in a small grassy patch, he saw a chest on the other side. He has come this far, so he decided he would go further.  
  
He got to his feet and, while avoiding the many fluttering butterflies, made his way towards the spoils of his risk.  
  
The chest was covered in layers of dust, which flaked off at Maxx's lightest touch. A key was left haphazardly on the ground some inches in front of it, and clearly matched the material used to make the lock.  
  
Maxx's hand reached down towards the key, and curled its fingers.  
  
"Stop!" rang a small, squeaky voice from overhead.  
  
Maxx looked up in surprise, and saw a tiny little spider floating down from a thread of silk. It looked an awful lot like a Skulltula, as its face encompassed its entire topside. Fear took Maxx, and he fell backwards onto his hands and feet, dropping the key.  
  
Before he could scuttle away, the tiny spider spoke again. "Don't unlock that chest. It is cursed. All who gaze upon it's treasure will spend eternity wishing they had never done so."  
  
It was then that Maxx realized that this spider had no intention of harming him. He hesitated momentary before straightening up and sitting on the floor.  
  
"W-who are you?" he asked, seeming unafraid anymore.  
  
The spider seemed surprised. "You're not scared of me?" it inquired.  
  
Maxx thought for a moment. "I think I was," he finally started. "But than I realized that you weren't going to hurt me. Your not, are you?" He sort of shrank backwards slightly in anticipation of the spider's responce.  
  
The tiny spider laughed. "Nah, I only go after insects smaller than me. You're far too big." The spider seemed to smile, although Maxx couldn't really tell. "I like you kid. What's your name?"  
  
"Maxx," he replied.  
  
"Hmm. Okay Maxx, my name is Stula, the magical spider. I am the keeper of this accursed chest. I prevent people like you from opening it." He laughed again. "But enough about me, how did you get down here?"  
  
Maxx told the spider about running from his brothers, then discovering the Grotto. Stula seemed quite interested on the topic of his siblings.  
  
"Your brothers seem very mean. Why do they do the stuff you speak of to you?"  
  
Maxx sighed. "They all want more money than the others," he said quite plainly. "They fight each other day and night for a larger part of the families inheritance. They see me as father's favorite, and so they naturally resent me."  
  
Stula quickly changed the subject. "You're the first person who's ever talked to me, you know."  
  
This caught Maxx off guard. He stared and the now sulking spider. "I'm sorry," he said quite sheepishly. "You must be very lonely."  
  
Stula looked up, and appeared to nod his head. He suddenly perked up. "Will you be my friend?" it asked, clearly full of hope.  
  
Maxx stared at the spider momentarily before smiling and nodding his head.  
  
Stula look ecstatic. "Oh thank goodness! I've never had a friend before!"  
  
So the odd couple became friends, and Maxx would visit every other day or so. At every meeting, Maxx would recall his most recent encounters with his brothers. Every passing day, Stula became more and more sympathetic with his friend, and secretly swore revenge against them if they were ever to harm Maxx permanently. And it was not long afterwards that that day came.  
  
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Seritolsa became worried when Maxx didn't return by noon. Aided by all his remaining children (none of them willing to pass up an opportunity such as this), he began to walk around town looking for him. When no one knew where he was, Seritolsa went to the police station and filed a report. The police said that they would search for him, but nothing could be done until then.  
  
Utterly disheartened, Seritolsa returned to his house with his sons. He sent the lot of them off to get his potion, and he laid down on his bed, exhausted and terrified.  
  
Days and weeks, past with nothing heard of the boy or his fate. Seritolsa had all but given up hope, and he resigned to sobbing into his pillow, day and night.  
  
His sons did likewise, but with an entirely different motive. They cared not that Maxx was gone, but they did want to appear sympathetic to their father.  
  
One day, a young maiden was drawing water from the well, when her bucket caught something very heavy. She somehow managed to lift the bucket anyway, which carried a large brown sack along with it. Curiously, she pulled the bag out of the bucket, and dropped it on the ground. She untied the immensely wet rope, and peeked inside. Upon seeing what was inside, she let out a blood curling scream, and dropped the bag. She then turned tail and ran, drawing the attention of a local policeman. He quieted the woman, than took a look inside the bag, for himself. It was clearly Maxx's lifeless body.  
  
Seritolsa was informed very quickly, as were his brothers. The father was utterly devastated to learn of his son's fate. He broke out into uncontrollable sobs, and slumped to the ground.  
  
The brothers, on the other hand, attempted to make themselves as small as possible. They all felt very worried. If they would somehow be found out, they would surely be executed, or at least imprisoned for life.  
  
The funeral was held the next day. Everyone in the town attended, teary-eyed and restless. The brothers were glad that the body was to go underground quickly, before it could be analyzed to any extent. Seritolsa was also glad that the funeral was so soon, hoping that it would then stop haunting his mind.  
  
The services passed quickly, with many speakers, and many tears. Maxx was absolutely beloved by the town, so a lot of different people had things to say.  
  
When the funeral finally ended, the crowds dispersed, leaving only one last mourner. Stula had listened to the entire thing from atop the gravestone, and realized why Maxx hadn't visited recently. The spider had heard enough about Maxx's brothers to be able to guess what had happened. Feeling a mix of sadness and rage, he returned to his hole, already plotting his revenge.  
  
*  
  
The day after the funeral, Rhec awoke to find a note on his bed. It was unlabeled, so he had no idea who it was from. He unfolded the piece of paper, and read it quickly.  
  
*I know what you did to Maxx. I congratulate you on this task. That boy was a thorn in my side for many years. Unfortunately for you, the police seem to be near discovering your identity due to some witnesses. There is only one way for you to clear you and your brother's names. Collect them all, and come to the graveyard tonight. Unfortunately, it will only work if every one of you is present, so make sure your brothers come. My messenger, Stula, will guide you from there. Good Luck.*  
  
Rhec read it over and over again, before quickly waking up his brothers, and showing it to them. All of them agreed that they would go.  
  
That night, the 5 gathered to leave. Seritolsa was not in the house, so that created less of a problem for them. They quietly slipped out of the house, and made for the graveyard.  
  
They reached the gates, and saw the old grave keeper, Dampe I, patrolling the tombstones, much as Dampe XIII would do in Link's time. They stood there, waiting for this Stula to appear.  
  
"Hello boys," came a small voice from the sign above. They all looked upwards, and saw a small spider.  
  
"Who said that?" Archein inquired, clearly nervous, and clearly not realizing that it was the spider who had spoken.  
  
"Are you blind? I'm Stula, and yes, I'm a spider, so don't even try pointing that out to me. I know."  
  
The boys were all quite surprised. None dared to speak, so they all just stared at the talking arachnid.  
  
Stula grew impatient. "What are you all looking at? Get going. Over in that corner over there," Stula bobbed in the specified direction. "is a hole. Go into the hole, and unlock the chest that's in there. What you find will help you in your cover up. It will also make anyone who knows about it forget. Now get going."  
  
Stula disappeared into the night, leaving the boys there to ponder on their encounter. One by one, they snapped out of their trances, and stared in the indicated direction. They walked the distance to the corner, and saw the hole that had been mentioned.  
  
The boys drew lots to see who would jump first, and the decision came upon Smoltz. He stood at the rim, hesitating momentarily, before swallowing his fear and jumping in.  
  
He hit the ground in a matter of seconds, and realized that he wasn't dead. He called to the others, and they proceeded to jump in one by one. When all five were in the hole, they began looking for the chest. It was not difficult to find, as it was located in the center of the back wall.  
  
They approached it apprehensively, and gazed upon it from a closer angle. It was actually a very beautiful chest. It was mahogany wood, carved in an elegant pattern and encrusted with jewels. The lock was golden, as was the key that they found on the ground.  
  
Henri lowered to pick up the key, but stopped short when he heard another person drop into the grotto. He spun around, and came face to face with their now enraged father. They were all at a loss for words.  
  
When they didn't speak, Seritolsa did, and his voice was like poison. "I just had a little chat with the police. It turns out that they found numerous people who identified you five as the murderers of my son." He was absolutely livid with anger. His face was now a bright red, and his fists were clenched so tightly that his knuckles had turned white, and his fingernails had bitten into his palms. "Is this true?" The last part was spoken in a tone that showed he knew full well that they had.  
  
He was greeted with silence. None of the boys dared to speak. They had never known this level of anger could exist in such a feeble man. Much less, their father.  
  
Seritolsa, taking this silence as evidence that they did kill Maxx, continued. "Come with me. Every one of you."  
  
Rhec, Pete, Smoltz, and Archein began to move forward in automatic obedience. Henri, on the other hand, remembered their mission. He stood up full, key in hand, and exclaimed, "No. I open this chest, and you forget. I open this chest, and I go free. I think I will choose that over persecution."  
  
This courageous statement grabbed the attention of ever person there, and they all turned to stare at Henri. The boys were still terrified, and Seritolsa still livid, but they gave him their attention.  
  
He turned around, and jammed the key into the lock. As he turned it, a rather loud click echoed throughout the grotto. He stood up full, and put his hand on the lid. Everyone's eyes had now moved to the treasure chest.  
  
Henri lifted the top up, and many things happened at once. Upon seeing the bounty, every person present screamed in terror, and dropped to the ground groping their eyes. The occupants of the chest, 100 golden coins shaped like spiders, floated into the air, and shot out of the chest. A booming voice sounded inside the grotto.  
  
*"YOU HAVE OPENED THE TREASURE OF THE GOLDEN SKULLTULA!"* it declared. *"NOW YOU SHALL BE CURSED FOR ETERNITY. THERE IS BUT ONE WAY TO LIFT THIS CURSE. SEEK OUT AND DESTROY THE GOLDEN SKULLTULAS."*  
  
With that, the massive group of floating coins flew out of the grotto, and spread out across the land. When they landed, they turned into Skulltulas with large, golden backs. They instantly began producing a god awful sound, and the world groaned.  
  
Seritolsa and sons were teleported back into their house, where the stood for mere seconds. Suddenly, they all screamed in pain as their body morphed. They grew 2 more pairs of limbs which turned black and yellow, giant skulls began to encompass their faces, leaving it only partially uncovered, and they began to shrink to a slightly smaller size.  
  
Automatically, a thread of silk fell from the ceiling, grabbing each spider in its own rope. They were hoisted upwards, and stood dangling above the floor. No one ever saw the Brigards again. Karma had gotten them.  
  
*  
  
It wasn"t long before the horror stories began to pile up. People had first gone to their house to express their sorrows over the topic of Maxx. When they saw the new occupants, they all screamed and ran.   
  
*  
  
*  
  
* 


	4. A Day of a Bomber

A Day of a Bomber   
  
By Darko  
  
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Ever since our member Link stopped the moon from destroying everything, being a Bomber is more popular than ever. Hi, I'm Jim, the leader. In addition to the original 6, we have satellite members of Zora children at the Great Bay, a Goron kid at Snowhead, a girl at Ikana Canyon, a Deku Princess at Woodfall, and a girl at Romani Ranch. The members of the committee, the original 6 and I, decided that non-humans could join, seeing how that Skull Kid was controlled by powers of evil. Headquarters are stationed at the observatory, like it always has been, and we are still a "secret society". That is, people know we exist, but the do not know where our members report to.   
  
"Hey Jim," #5 said as I walked into HQ, "We got another logbook filled out by Romani, seems like she gets lots of action out there, due to the Gorman Brothers' constant attempts at stealing."   
  
I looked over the logbook. There were mostly tourists that were close to being suckered into buying the watered-down milk that they were trying to pass off as better than Chateu Romani.   
  
"Send her a new logbook and a lapel pin." I told #4, the outgoing mail secretary. We send out bomb shaped lapel pins that are to be worn on the collar of your shirt or on a scarf, so that other people are aware that you can be trusted. We get funds for this stuff from money that is given to Bombers in return for their good deeds.   
  
I looked at the clock. It was 5:45 A.M. 15 minutes until we all go out on our beats. I had North Clock Town, #3 had South, #1 and #2 had West, and #4 and #5 had East. I went up to see the Professor and asked him how things were going.   
  
"Fine, fine," he said. "Jupiter's going to be it's highest for the whole year tonight. Perhaps you'll come and see it. It shall be most enthralling, I promise."   
  
"I'll come around 8," I said. "After I get some paperwork done for the Bombers."   
  
"That will be fine," he said as he became engrossed in something in the telescope. I snuck away to the main room of the Hideout.   
  
"Ok!" I shouted. "It's time for us to go on our beats. You all know your positions and 'The Bombers Secret Society of Justice Forever!'"   
  
"The Bombers Secret Society of Justice Forever!" everyone replied, and we all filed out into the morning.   
  
*  
  
It was about half past three when I smelt smoke and heard the Bomber's emergency whistle. I looked up and saw it was coming from the east, a big black column of smoke. I rushed east, blowing my whistle as well. It came from the Stock Pot Inn, the first floor all ablaze. There was a bucket brigade of townspeople and Bombers, going from the Laundry Well to the inn. I found Anju and Kafei outside of the inn consoling each other. I saw the innkeeper, and all the guests that were in at the time of the blaze (we Bombers keep close tabs on who's coming and going). Yet there was someone missing. It took me about a minute to figure out who it was. It was Anju's Grandma! I rushed past all those who were attempting to put out the blaze and into the inn.   
  
Inside, the front counter was on fire, and the kitchen had appeared to be totally gutted out by fire. I put my hat over my mouth and went as quickly as I could to the library. I pulled open the door and found Grandma lying in her wheelchair unconscious. I tried to pull her out with the wheelchair, but the debris on the floor made it impossible. I unbuckled her and tried to drag her out, but she was too heavy. All of a sudden, I felt something bump my back. It was my younger brother Tim, the doorkeeper to the Hideout.   
  
"What are you doing here?" I shouted.   
  
"Helping you!" he replied.   
  
Tim was only part of the Bombers because he pestered Mom to be one. She told me he had to play too, or I couldn't. I gave him a notebook and posted him at the door. Seeing how he has to stay in his position, he only has one row filled out, the one with the pass number. Seeing how he hadn't filled a notebook out yet, he hasn't passed the initiation of becoming a "true" Bomber.   
  
With his help, I was able to drag Grandma out, just as the ceiling collapsed. When I was outside, Anju and Kafei rushed over and took her out of our arms. I took down every name of each villager there in a spare notebook I keep, and in mine. Exhausted, I went back to the hideout and changed into some spare clothes that I keep there so Mom doesn't freak out if I come home filthy. I sat down and fell asleep.   
  
*  
  
Around five I woke up. I saw that everyone, minus Tim, was helping out with an influx of mail we just received concerning the fire from our out of town members.   
  
"Put that mail down, and line up in the honor position," I told them. They lined up in this formation:   
  
#1 #2   
  
#3 #4   
  
#5 #6   
  
Me   
  
"Go and fetch Tim," I told #1.   
  
He ran and got him, running back, so he could be in formation.   
  
Tim walked in apprehensively, and slowly walked down the center of the formation.   
  
"Tim, do you know why you are here?" I asked.   
  
"Yes, you are going to discharge me for leaving my post," he said, choking back tears.   
  
"I could," I said, "if it were not for the extreme circumstances that you left your post."   
  
"What?" he asked, amazed.   
  
"I have decided to give you the Gilded Bomb for Extreme Bravery in Times of Peril. Come closer," I said, in my most firm voice.   
  
He came closer, and I unpinned my golden Bomb pin I was awarded for saving the Bomb Shop's owner's mother. I took it and pinned it on his collar.   
  
"Congratulations," I said.   
  
"Thank you," he said, "I'll return to my post now."   
  
"I am not done yet."   
  
He looked up at me in total bewilderment.   
  
"You shall also recieve a normal bomb for filling out your notebook," I said.   
  
"But I didn't fill it out."   
  
"Perhaps you didn't, but I did it for you," I stated, holding up the spare notebook I had filled out.   
  
"Whom did I help that filled out that entire notebook?" he inquired.   
  
"Everyone in town that was fighting the fire. You saved someone that they all knew life," I said, smiling, "Come forward."   
  
He came forward and I pinned a regular pin on him.   
  
"Now as a full fledged Bomber, you need a beat. Tomorrow, you will have North Clock Town with me," I told him.   
  
"But what about the entrance?" he asked.   
  
"Don't worry about the entrance. I'll figure out a way to protect it."   
  
"Thank you Jim," he said, almost in tears.   
  
"No problem," I said, "One more thing."   
  
"What?"   
  
"The Bomber's Secret Society of Justice Forever!" I stated.   
  
"The Bomber's Secret Society of Justice Forever!" Tim repeated.   
  
*"THE BOMBER'S SECRET SOCIETY OF JUSTICE FOREVER!"* Everyone cheered.   
  
That was my day.  
  
*  
  
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	5. Ghost Child

Ghost Child   
  
By DarkBlacknoid  
  
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It was twilight. The time Kakariko drew in its venders and shuttered their windows for another night of rest and safety from the foul things of the night. One by one the people would clear their small streets, retreating to a safe and warm home. The brightest stars twinkled into existence a short time after giving night full reign of the village. The nighttime sounds crept in with the darkness. The nightly chattering and clattering of the skultulas began as they made their way around, under, and above the buildings looking for food or some ignorant child to devour.   
  
When Huet's little ears grasped that sound, his cute, roundly face grew bright with a smile of all except two missing front teeth. That meant that it was night and Dampe, the honorable gravedigger of their village would be out in his lonesome graveyard looking for treasure and spirits. Huet loved visiting the old man. Dampe always had a new gadget or trinket to show him. And even on some occasions, Dampe would tell him scary ghost stories that the gravedigger himself had witnessed.   
  
The young boy looked out the window of their small, yet comfortable home longing to scamper away to the graveyard to visit with Dampe. He glanced over to his mother who was a beautiful middle-aged woman sitting and knitting quietly in her chair. Her auburn curls splayed over her shoulders without notice and her slender fingers working together gracefully. Huet tapped his fingers a little impatiently.  
  
"Can I go now mother?" He asked in a voice that could be mistaken for a little girl's. He always hated his voice, his face, and his inadequate height for his age. None of the other boys in the town took him seriously because of his stunted growth. Dampe and his mother were the only two people that understood him.   
  
The woman's fingers stopped working and she sighed delicately. Her amber eyes smiling at her young son. "Yes, my boy, you can go." Her lithe form raised out of her chair and walked to the wooden door. Next to it on a shelf, a single lantern laid. She picked up the lamp and lit it. Huet was already bouncing next to her, waiting for it to be placed in his small hands.   
  
"Now, remember, stay away from dark corners and don't walk under any trees and--"  
  
"--and don't let the lamp get caught in the wind. Yeah, I got it mom." He said annoyed but she only smiled and gave him a quick hug before Huet pranced from the door into their yard. She waved to him. "Be safe now!"   
  
Huet wandered into the night with his lamp held aloft. He could hear the chirping of the skultulas, but despite that he smiled. How many times had he braved the night and gotten to the graveyard in one piece? He had never had an incident and he figured it would never happen.   
  
The boy walked down the central stairs of the Village and passing the well he got chills. That happened every time he passed the well. Though tonight, he was in a hurry to visit Dampe, for the gravedigger promised to tell him about Stal Children. Huet had never seen a Stal Child, but listening to the travelers tell him about those creatures of Hyrule Field were even more scary than the ghosts of the graveyard. Dampe had told him that in his young years, he had come face to face with one of the fleshless carcasses of the Field.   
  
Past Miss Anju's house, Huet scurried down the long dark path to the graveyard. It was well past sunset now meaning Dampe had been up for awhile. The yellow light of his lantern suddenly illuminated the clearing that preceded the boundary fence of the gravedigger's keep. Excitement fluttered deeply in his heart and Huet quickened his pace. The small hut of Dampe's residence came to his light, but Huet knew the man most likely was not inside.   
  
"Dampe! Dampe! It's me, Huet!" He called into the night and then a flicker to his right caused him to turn. There, in the fresh light of his own lantern, Dampe the gravedigger stood in his hunched form. Spade in rough hand and spare-toothed smile gleamed on his face.   
  
"Huet, my boy, I've been waitin' for ya."  
  
"Dampe!" Little, cute Huet ran to the old man and gave him a big hug. "I've been waiting all day to see you. Have you seen any ghosts tonight?" A sparkle was ablaze in Huet's large blue eyes. Dampe chuckled and lead the boy down the path with him as he checked the graves with a poke of his spade. "Not yet, but the night's young." He said in a suggestively eerie voice. Huet giggled with delight as the gravedigger played with the graves.   
  
"Can we sit by the big graves and you tell me about the encounter you had with the Stal Children?" Huet's little hands held the lantern tightly, with delight following Dampe's bowed form.   
  
"Sure, sure, that's a good idea. I've seen the ghosts of the Composer Brothers many times when I'm around their graves." Dampe gave the boy a crooked smile and he shivered in delight.   
  
The boy and digger sat among the three great headstones that dominated the graveyard's north side. Huet snuffed his lantern so that he could save the rest of the oil for his walk back home. A skultula scrambled through some leaves nearby and he jumped. Dampe chuckled and placed his lantern between him and the boy. "Don't worry, they won't bother us here." A grunt came from his lips as Dampe got comfortable upon the grass.   
  
"So, you want to hear about the time I faced the Stal Children and lived, eh?" He muttered and laughed when the boy nodded vigorously with large eyes. "I was no bigger than you are now when one day, I decided I would see if all the rumors about the Stal Children attacking weary night travelers were true…"  
  
/At that time in my youth, Kakariko did not exist in the way it does now. The Sheikahs had their village there and my family and I lived in Hyrule Castle Town. I liked to play at night with the dogs when the gate was shut firmly to keep out the dangers of the Field./  
  
/My mother disliked that I was fascinated with the night and wanted to go out and play in it. Getting me to go to bed at night was as hard as getting a mule to move when it decided to sit down for a rest. Finally, she got so tired of me being so stubborn she would tell me stories right before bedtime, that if I didn't behave and go to sleep when told to, the Stal Children would know I was awake and kidnap me. She had said, "You know what happens to children that disobey their parents? The Stal Children take them and they turn into one of those creatures! Forever roaming Hyrule Field in regret." For awhile that story worked. I had grown up afraid of those skeletal man-eating creatures of the Field and did as I was told./  
  
/But one fateful night, I could not sleep. A fever had stricken me and I tossed and turned all night. Never had I felt so much fear. I was afraid that because I could not sleep, the Stal Children would know and come to get me. But the night went on and the Stal Children did not come./  
  
/That next day, my mother took care of me and I was able to sleep most of the day. When night fell, I awakened. At first, I was afraid. The old warnings from my mother stung my mind, but then the memory of the previous night made me wonder./  
  
/"Why didn't they come?"/  
  
/With that question at my lips, I crawled from my bed to the window. Unlatching it and swinging the shutters open, I gazed into the shadowy image of Castle Town. No one was about except for the dogs./   
  
/Curious and brave, I pulled on my day clothes and tiptoed out the front door. My mother and father had not woken so I relished in my freedom by slipping through town to the gate. It was closed of course, but I knew a way outside. To the right of the gate was a small wooden fence. I climbed that and found my escape route. It was a large tree I liked to climb and its branches stretched far over the wall of the Town. Up the tree I went and over the wall I came. I landed in the River right outside and quickly swam to the shore./   
  
/A cool breeze from the south breathed in my face, making me shiver. Hyrule Field lay out before me. Its only luminance coming from the moon and stars, which was full that night. I was glad for that because I could move around freely without fear of true darkness. The world looked so much different without the sun illuminating it./  
  
/Without fear, I scampered across the thick grasses of Hyrule Field. I could barely make out the shadow of Lon Lon Ranch ahead of me as I ran with all the swiftness my little body would allow. I knew that from then on, night would be where I belonged./  
  
/It had to have been midnight when I heard the screaming. I had propped myself under a navy blue sky, full of stars, resting, but upon the sound I bolted upright. The shrieking continued. For a moment, I just sat there entranced and afraid of that sound. What was it? What caused it? Finally, I got to my feet and ran towards the source. I didn't know what I was getting myself into./   
  
/On a well-worn path to Hyrule Castle, I found the answer to my questions. A group of travelers, a family with their wagon and horse, were being attacked by about a dozen skeletons. I stood there in shock, paralyzed by fear of what I saw. The Stal Children had a hold of one of the family's smaller children, dragging the wriggling, shrieking body from the wagon. Her father (or so I assumed was her father) leapt from the wagon and tried fending the bony, clawed creatures away from his daughter with a short sword. The little girl squealed in fear when he dispatched one./  
  
/I wanted to help, but I didn't know how. I possessed no weapons and my frail body was pitifully weak. What was I to do? I couldn't just stand there…could I?/   
  
/A sudden rush of adrenaline and bravery flooded into my limbs and into my voice./  
  
/"Hey!" I called out in a voice I barely recognized. The commotion then turned to him with a start. The Stal Children were distracted long enough for the man to grab his girl and back onto the stage. With feral cries, a few of the Stals attempted to climb up the wagon and reclaim the girl, but the father whipped his horse into a run. It jolted forward, running over two Stals and barely missing me. I jumped out of the way, hearing the man call to me./   
  
/"Grab hold of the wagon boy!"/  
  
/I got to my feet as quickly as possible when I saw the Stals coming for me. Even though all they had were bones to walk upon, they were fast. Fear tangled itself into my heart and the courage I felt earlier sank into a vast abyss of forgetfulness. I heard the man yell out to me again, but I was frozen in fear and I could not respond. My eyes were locked upon the grotesque visages of the Stal Children./   
  
/"Run, boy! Run!" I heard a woman's voice, the mother? She screamed desperately, trying to wake my nerves. My eyes finally blinked and the urge to run took hold. I turned, almost tripping over my own frightened feet, when I saw them. They were all around me now, blocking any escape route. Gasping with fear, I frantically tried to find an opening. There was none./   
  
/A cold, hard hand snatched my shirt in its tight grip and I shrieked. More hands clamped onto my clothing and on my arms and legs. I struggled; trying to get free, but their grip was a vice./   
  
/As the Stal Children carried me away, I barely noticed the family I had helped coming back. In an attempt to help me? To free me from these monsters? I could not tell, for suddenly the world went black./  
  
/I awoke, unsure of how long it had been since being taken. Though that wasn't as important to me as WHERE I was. It was dark and I could hear water dripping somewhere. The air was laden with thickness and cold. I shivered and curled my arms around my legs. I was sitting on some kind of moss and it was comfortable, but I still couldn't tell where I was. I wasn't afraid of the darkness. In fact, I felt comforted by it./   
  
/Getting up, I walked in the near darkness to find out where I was when I hit something. It was hard and sticky, giving me chills up my spine. A thick, silky spider web was in my path. I pushed on it, but it didn't move. It suddenly hit me that it was there to keep anyone inside from getting out./   
  
/My hair stood on end when looking through the tiny holes of the web; a Stal Child was sitting near. I cried out and fell back on the ground, clearly startled. The Stal noticed me then and turned around to look at me with bulging red eyes./  
  
/"Hi! I'm Plif! What's your name?"/  
  
/I screamed, scooting backwards. Did that thing just talk to me? My eyes were bugged with fear and my breath was quick./   
  
/"Oh, don't be so scared, I just want to be your friend." The Stal Child said, curiously. "You can come outta of there. It's just the warmest place we have down here."/   
  
/I still wasn't sure about the creature, but when it tore down the web my heart seemed to slow. I stayed there on the ground for a moment while the Stal stared at me. It appeared to be smiling, but didn't skeletons look like that all the time?/   
  
/Finally I willed my limbs to move and brushed specks of debris off of my clothes. The Stal Child bounced around as I walked towards it. In excitement?/   
  
/"What are you?" I asked./  
  
/"I'm a Stal Child," it said matter-of-factly. I fidgeted as the creature watched my every move. Looking around the area, I noticed it was some sort of cavern with an opening in the ceiling. Was this where they hid?/   
  
/More Stal Children milled around in different wings of the cavern. It frightened me at first when a call rang out from one of them./   
  
/"The child is awake!" They said, and I could hear that message being passed around. Suddenly, a dozen of them surrounded me with large, red eyes. I almost stumbled to the rocky floor as they crawled all over each other trying to get a good look at me. For some blessed reason, I wasn't afraid anymore. Looking into those red, bulbous eyes, I just couldn't./   
  
/"What's your name?" One asked me./   
  
/"How old are you?" Another pressed./  
  
/"Will you be our friends?"/  
  
/I trembled slightly from the coldness, but no longer from fear./   
  
/"Uhh," I started, trying to answer all the pressing questions. "My name is Dampe and I'm ten years old…" A murmuring of wonder passed over the Stals and I couldn't help but smile./   
  
/"Dampe, will you be our friend? It's so lonely." The sad eyes of a Stal caught my own and the pain in them paralyzed me. It was Plif, the friendly little Stal that had greeted me when I woke up./   
  
/"If you're lonely, why don't you leave here? There are lots of people in Hyrule Castle Town. That's where I live."/  
  
/Shrieking followed and my heart pumped loudly. What had I said? Were they going to hurt me?/   
  
/"We can't go back home." One said through what sounded like sobbing./   
  
/"We're not like ghosts who can move around wherever they want."/  
  
/"Yeah, we have to stay here. On the Field."/   
  
/Struck by the strangeness of this development, I was silent. I didn't understand what they were talking about. Ghosts? Why couldn't they leave?/  
  
/"Why can't you leave?" I asked finally. Plif struggled for words, hugging himself (or herself?) before speaking./   
  
/"We're dead…" Plif sputtered. "They killed us. They said we couldn't leave until…" The Stal stopped there and another round of 'sobbing' sounded. It was more like the sound of quaking bones, rubbing together./   
  
/In the midst of these skeleton children, I sympathized. I didn't know why. Before I thought and believed those stories about the Stal Children being flesh-eating monsters that devoured any traveler that dared to cross Hyrule Field at night. But now sitting with these Stals, I knew those rumors were not true./   
  
/"Until…until what?" I asked, trying not to be so nosy, but my curiosity won out./   
  
/"Until someone kills our murderer."/   
  
/Silence hung in the humid air. I didn't know what to say. To my knowledge Stal Children had been around since the civil war in Hyrule. Who would have been responsible for this many children? Who would be so heartless?/  
  
/My courage returned. Maybe I could help them rest? They had a right to be free and rest in peace./   
  
/"Who is your murderer?" I asked. The Stals were quiet for a long moment. They looked at each other. In fear? I couldn't tell. Finally, my friend, Plif broke the silence by sighing./   
  
/"You won't like it. No one ever does. But we try. We try! We try to get people to understand…"/   
  
/There was a flurry of movement as the Stals tried to crowd me again. Pawing and groping my clothes, the Stals shivered with fear./   
  
/"Please don't leave us!"/  
  
/"Dampe, you won't leave us will you?"/  
  
/"Dampe! Don't leave like all the others!"/   
  
/I fought to keep my balance against the shower of bony hands clinging to my body. They cried desperately, trying to keep me from moving. I wasn't trying to get away, but my air was being deprived of my lungs. I called for them to let me up and reluctantly they did./  
  
/"No, I won't leave. I want to help." I said, standing erectly, with a smile. Grateful sobs then followed and Plif hugged me, as did many others. "Just tell me. Who is your murderer and I will try to help." For a moment, the Stals still did not answer me./   
  
/"The King of Hyrule."/  
  
/I nearly fell back. The King of Hyrule? The one King that was so kind and had brought peace to their land? I shook my head in disbelief and shock. Could that be possible? It wasn't true…was it?/  
  
/"See, he doesn't believe us. I knew he wouldn't." A voice from the back said. Plif turned to face the Stal./   
  
/"He has to believe us!" Plif cried with a quivering voice then turned back to me. "Won't you?" I hesitated. What was I to say? I doubted their claim that the King had murdered them. The King was so kind and helpful for his people. He made peace when no one else could./   
  
/I looked around the faces in the room. All bony and pasty with hardly any variance. Once they probably had faces and hair. Once they were children./   
  
/"I don't know…" I finally managed to say. "The King is such a kind man--"/  
  
/"He killed us!" The voice in the back responded with hatred. "He gave the order. His men followed it and now we're all dead and we have to stay here." There was more sobbing from the others, but I noticed this Stal wasn't. It was larger than the rest and seemed to not like my presence./   
  
/"But how could--"/  
  
/"He did kill us."/  
  
/"But why?" I asked, shaken and unsure./   
  
/"Because. Our families weren't on his side. I remember…my father wanted to keep fighting when the King came around and made treaties with the other races. He didn't believe in the peace it offered and we were all murdered for our beliefs. If you don't believe us, just go to the Shadow Temple, and find out. It's all written there."/   
  
/I stood utterly still without a sound./  
  
/"Will…will you help us?" It was Plif, with his wide eyes of anticipation. I had pledged that I would help but now I wasn't so sure. To end their curse, it meant to kill the one who stole their lives from them and he couldn't do that./   
  
/"I…" I swallowed as all eyes stared at me. "I don't know what I can do. I'm only a boy…"/   
  
/The Stal Children stared at me, hushed and shaking. Their eyes round and sad, once would have been spilling tears but now were doomed to be expressionless. Plif took my hand tightly. Eyes pouring into me, waiting for me to announce freedom…but I couldn't./   
  
/"I will try to help you…" The words finally left my mouth and it seemed the cave brightened somehow. I found myself under a pile of bony hugs--and kisses?--battling to get free so I could breathe./   
  
/"Oh thank you! Thank you!"/  
  
/"You're the first one to listen!"/  
  
/"You'll be the first to help us!"/  
  
/I lay there in their embraces. No matter how I struggled with how I was going to help them, all I knew was that I had to. They needed to be released from this dreadful existence. Somehow, someway, I was going to help./   
  
Huet's eyes were the size of watermelons. The night had grown quiet since the beginning of the story as if the spirits were listening. Even the skultulas were quiet.   
  
Dampe stared back into the child's eyes, hoping he understood the whole meaning behind his story. Never had he, the gravedigger, been touched by anything so powerful as the Stal Children's story.   
  
Huet seemed to shiver and Dampe looked about and saw the first licks of light coming from the eastern horizon. Dawn was approaching. He reached over to snuff his lantern and it seemed to snap Huet from his awed silence.   
  
"Did you ever help the Stal Children, Dampe?" The child asked with all his innocence and naïve nature.   
  
The gravedigger stood with effort, snatching up his lantern and grunting. He smiled despite the seriousness of the question. The child was a fine young lad.   
  
"I helped them by telling their story to others. Most people don't believe it but…" Dampe shrugged, starting to hobble back to his hut and put away his tools. "I think I helped them more than anyone else has. I still try to visit them when I can, but anymore I can hardly walk to the end of my graveyard." Huet followed at his heels, trying not to step on them with his young gait.   
  
Dampe stopped and turned to Huet when he was finished putting away his equipment. The lad was still staring at him with a questionable look. He laughed.   
  
"Go on, Huet. You better get home before your mother worries about you." He patted the boy on his shoulder and put a hand on the knob of his door. Huet seemed to wake from a dream.   
  
"Yikes! I was out all night!" He ran back to the tombs at the end of the graveyard to grab his lamp and then managed a quick goodbye to Dampe. His little feet passed the fence, then suddenly stopped. Dampe paused before going inside to rest for the day.   
  
"What is it Huet?"   
  
"Can I tell people your story, Dampe?" For a long moment, gravedigger and boy looked into each other's eyes. Each was unreadable and deep. Dampe nodded to Huet.   
  
"Yes, Huet, tell others about this story and maybe one day our friends can rest in peace." With that said, Huet ran back to Kakariko Village with a full heart and promise on his lips to help the Stal Children.   
  
Dampe stood at the threshold of his home for a long while after Huet left. He only hoped the boy had taken his story to heart and forever claims a different view of the country they lived in.   
  
With a tired sigh, Dampe opened his door and trudged inside. He lit a candle and then settled himself by his writing desk. As usual, before going to sleep for the day, Dampe opened his journal and wrote what the night had brought on.   
  
When finally the gravedigger finished, he heaved himself to the cot on the other side of the hut and lay down to rest.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~  
  
/On the last day of our King's rule and the first of the new,/  
  
/I have discovered today that our King, ruler of Hyrule, has been slain. No doubt by the Gerudo King named Ganondorf that has so suddenly claimed our country for his own. Darkness has spread over the land of Hyrule and more and more refugees from Hyrule Castle Town arrive by the hour. I was awakened suddenly in the noontime and have found myself busy with burying the dead they bring with them. Men, women, children all the same were placed in the earth with my very own hands. My heart is burdened with sorrow for their dead, but somehow I feel a strange happiness despite that. I know now that my friends, the Stal Children, are safely at rest with the removal of their murderer. I grieve for the turmoil our country is in, but now my burden to help those murdered children has been relieved./   
  
/Dampe, the Gravedigger/  
  
Link blinked at the last entry of Dampe, the gravedigger's journal. He had read through the book as if it were a novel from the Castle's own library of the greatest authors. He couldn't tell why he had stopped to read this book before trying to figure out what Sheik meant by 'going to Kakariko' to find equipment he needed. But now he was grateful to have stopped to read it for he found the answer to what he should be looking for…and also the story of the Stal Children. He had never pictured those creepy skeleton walkers as once being real children.   
  
Silently, the Hero of Time placed the journal into his tunic. If and when he saved Hyrule from the clutches of the Tyrant, Link would place this book in the new library of the Castle so that all would know the story of Dampe the Gravedigger and his discovery of the Stal Children. 


	6. Fade to Bones

Fade to Bones   
  
By MysticSaiyan7 (aka Aeris Deathscythe)  
  
*  
  
*  
  
*  
  
"People are disgusting. My own father and mother are disgusting. You must be disgusting too!"  
  
The blond kid in the stupid green outfit had looked a little taken aback at those words. He couldn't have been any older than ten at the time, anyway. The boy-who had a fairy no less- had given him one last curious look before quickly running off to where ever it was that he had been headed to. It had probably been the graveyard.  
  
*  
  
Nomis shuddered. People, when they died, rotted away, consumed by worms and other bugs. People were disgusting, and not just because of the bugs. He had never seen the blond boy before, but since he was a person, he was just as bad.  
  
People made all the wrong choices, said stupid things, did stupid things. They made him sick. Couldn't they see how truly grotesque they all were? His mother was an ugly old revolting hag who made potions for the rest of the disgusting population. His father was a master craftsman, out ogling the Gerudo warrior girls. Disgusting! Nomis had to pride himself on stealing his father's saw, which he had left with his wife, so that he couldn't use it. It was a poaching saw; one he had been using to take plants from the Lost Woods. Now his sister…his sister wasn't so disgusting. She raised cuccos, just like his Cojiro. He had naturally assumed that the boy was disgusting, since everyone else was disgusting. All people were.   
  
That's why he'd always sat alone at night under the tree at the entrance to Kakariko village. And that was why he had finally left them and gone into the Lost Woods, where he sat now, leaning against a tree stump. But that was not why he was too sick to find his way out and bring the odd mushroom to the old hag.  
  
And then the kid had come and found him, and he had remembered seeing him seven years ago, if his memory served him correctly. He was so tired, so very tired, and the boy, though older now, the boy had woken him up from his long sleep by using his cucco. /His cucco!/ Cojiro.  
  
/Normally only a nice guy like me can tame you…/ he had said, and because of his excitement his hands had started shaking uncontrollably. /Which means…You…You must be a nice guy! Must be! You must be!!/ Nomis had gotten it all wrong when he had first met the kid. He wasn't disgusting at all, he was a nice guy like him! He had agreed to bring his odd mushroom to his vile mother in Kakariko village so that he could get a potion to heal himself. If all people besides he could have potions, than he deserved one as well, more than they, in fact. The kid only had three minutes to get the mushroom to the old witch before it disappeared. And the potion…there was probably no limit to that.   
  
His stomach grumbled angrily. Nomis didn't remember the last time he had eaten, though he didn't eat much in the first place. He was skin and bones, and his yellow pants had been tightened to the limit, and his rings, the ones that matched his white, empty eyes, threatened to slip off of his fingers. They nearly had during his conversation with the kid. But he couldn't eat. What was there to eat? He was too tired to move, and even if he could he'd lose himself further to the woods, and the boy, who knew if he would find him again?  
  
He hoped the kid would return soon. He'd overheard the rumors about this forest from those nasty people; and though he wasn't sure he believed them, he still wanted to leave as soon as possible. He had things to do when he returned to the village. First, he would scrub every last bit of dirt from his body, and then he would /kill them all/.  
  
The thought, though it was not his own, did not frighten him. After all, people were disgusting, weren't they? They deserved to die, every last one of them.  
  
Nomis closed his eyes and sighed peacefully. They would all die, just as soon as he had his potion… But he did not get his potion. The Lost Woods claimed his body before the man in green could return. It took him into the earth, devouring him before he had a chance to protest.  
  
At first his entire body was filled with pain as his flesh melted away, revealing a pale gray skeleton, and then as he lay there, drawing in a shuddering breath with invisible lungs that filled only with dirt, his bones exploded. His skeleton expanded, stretching itself, as bone built upon bone, until at least he fit the Lost Wood's demands. And then in his hands appeared a sword and shield, and the Woods gave him armor and ragged clothing to wear upon his frame. The Lost Woods released him, yet claimed him forever as he awoke in a room of stone.  
  
He was suddenly filled with only the desire to kill-to thrust his sword through sweet Hylian flesh and watch the blood spill to the ground-and nothing else. Nomis wasn't himself anymore; he was a Stalfos.   
  
A door opened, then shut, the bars sliding in place, preventing the man in green from leaving. And then the Stalfos appeared. One the Hylian man killed with ease despite the obvious pain he was in, but the other was more difficult. The Stalfos laughed, a deep, dangerous sound.  
  
He wanted to kill this man, badly; to see him writhe in pain on the floor before he took his final breath of life. But the man, though weary, evaded him as he attacked, barely hearing the high squawk that emitted from the Stalfos' absent vocal cords, shimmering off of his bones.  
  
The man dodged in and thrust his sword through his empty ribcage, claiming the first blow. Angry, he charged the man, knowing his life was at its last, only one half of a heart left. Crying out, he struck the man just once with his dark blade.  
  
The Hylian stopped, his eyes wide with pain, and then a choking gasp left his throat as his knees slammed on the stone floor. Another, softer breath, came a second later as he fell forward onto his stomach, and lay there, completely still.   
  
The Stalfos cried out again, with glee this time. He had won. Life, which he had once had, could he remember it, had now been taken from this blond fighter. He had taken it from him.   
  
But then time seemed to freeze and a pink fairy, glowing with energy, emerged from the man's body, giving him back his life; his precious, futile life. The warrior stood, his mouth curving into a small, victorious smile, and then he jumped up and sliced downwards with his blade and claimed another blow.   
  
The Stalfos cried out with rage, pulling in his shield too little too late. His next attack was reckless and the man dodged the blade by rolling to the side and struck him across the back before he had a chance to turn. And when he did, the man in green circled him patiently, waiting for his next opportunity to attack. It came soon as the Stalfos crashed his blade down on his shield, and he darted in and wounded him for the fourth hit.   
  
What was going on? /He/ was supposed to win! He had killed the disgusting Hylian yet he had come back. /He/ hadn't been able to come back! He wasn't entirely mindless to be sure of that fact. The man hit him again as he barely held up his shield to defend against it as his empty skull filled with disjointed thoughts. But any recollection that he could have had of his former life suddenly faded away as his blade finally connected with flesh. The man made a noise that held no significance to him except for the satisfaction of knowing that he had caused him pain, but it did little to quench the thirst that had permanently claimed him.   
  
But suddenly the final blow slid through his body, and as the red light in his eyes faded away, the warrior wrenched his sword free of his body and smirked triumphantly. Then, with one last unearthly shriek, the Stalfos crumpled into a pile of bones, which then faded to dust, as his lifeless life left him. And the blond man, who would claim his title as the Hero of Time, continued on his quest.  
  
But Nomis would come back. He would always come back. The Lost Woods had turned him into something evil, something mortal but immortal. For in Hyrule, evil could never be truly eliminated, and those that were good, would always have to fight.  
  
*  
  
*  
  
*  
  
~Owari~ 


	7. Shameless Plug and Futuresiteofresult

So... those are all of the fics up for this competition! Did you remember to vote?  
  
If not, just open up a "review" window, type the name of the fic you want to review, and give it a rating between 1 and 5 stars!  
  
For now, that's it! We should have more completed challenges up soon!  
  
Check out the main website, which is on a horrible server that deserves to die a thousand deaths - http://zeldafans.storiesfrom.us - for more fanfics by these people and official information on our next challenge - http://zeldafans.storiesfrom.us/fanficchallenge.html  
  
or... if the site is down (which I wouldn't be surprised of at all...)  
  
Check out our forums - http://zeldafans.proboards20.com - to chat with all of the authors and artists and to get information about "All of the Stuff that's Going On" before it becomes Official... including, but not limited to, brainstormings for upcoming fanfic/fanart challenge ideas...  
  
So, for now, I'm Andi!!! And I'll post the official results for the First Ever ZFA FanFic Challenge on Friday, August 1st, at 11:59 pm EST... or at least, the official voting for the contest will be over then...  
  
:::dances off::: 


	8. The Official Results

Okies! the results for the first official ZFA challenge are in!  
  
here are the point tallies, with the averages (out of five stars) below them!  
  
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:::drumroll, please:::  
  
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"Of Fairies and their Gossamer Wings" by canihavea-soda  
  
4  
  
4  
  
3  
  
5  
  
5  
  
---  
  
4.2/5  
  
.  
  
.  
  
.  
  
"Karma" by Gunoung7  
  
3  
  
3.5  
  
3  
  
5  
  
4  
  
5  
  
---  
  
3.92/5  
  
.  
  
.  
  
.  
  
"A Day of a Bomber" by Darko  
  
4  
  
2  
  
3  
  
3  
  
3  
  
3  
  
---  
  
3/5  
  
.  
  
.  
  
.  
  
"Ghost Child" by DarkBlacknoid  
  
5  
  
4  
  
5  
  
5  
  
5  
  
5  
  
4  
  
---  
  
4.71/5  
  
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.  
  
.  
  
"Fade to Bones" by MysticSaiyan7/Aeris Deathscythe  
  
5  
  
4.5  
  
4  
  
3  
  
4  
  
4  
  
---  
  
4.08/5  
  
.  
  
.  
  
.  
  
And thus, as you've no doubt assumed, DarkBlacknoid's the official winner of this challenge!  
  
She gets lots of cute goodies, including a custom rank on the ZFA forums, a super-starry signature, and the right to write the prologue to the upcoming ZFA RPG...  
  
:::cough-http://zeldafans.storiesfrom.us-cough:::  
  
So, that's it for this challenge! For details on our next fanfic challenge, and to learn how to enter, check out http://zeldafans.storiesfrom.us/fanficchallenge.html  
  
Also, if you're of the sort, check out http://zeldafans.storiesfrom.us/fanartchallenge.html for information about our upcoming fanART challenge!  
  
The deadline for the next fanfic challenge (a humor challenge where you have to use a bunch of random quotes that the ZFA members came up with in a semi-coherent fic) is August 10th @ 11:59 pm EST, so "The 2nd ZFA FanFic Challenge" will be up some time after that... :::grins:::  
  
For now, I'm Andi! And the crew and I will be back with many more "Tales to Make You Go 'o_O'" in the near future!  
  
:::twirls off into the sunset::: 


End file.
